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Burma's ruling junta offered a small cash reward for each rat tail delivered by the rat collection campaigns

Great way to reward rat breeding!

Presumably there's a sweet spot below the cost of raising a rat but above the cost of harvesting a superabundant wild rat.
Only if the reward is more than the cost of breeding the rat.

I grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada. While I missed out, my father always talked about turning in gopher tails for money. My recollection is that my older brother was able to do this, and he got $1 per tail. At that price, even in the 1970s, I doubt you could have made any real money raising gophers.

India is a large country. This happens in a tiny part of Northeast India. The title is sensationalist.

It reminds me of the cicadas that come out once every couple of decades in the US. You don't hear "US is attacked by cicadas" when that happens!

People aren't afraid of cicadas.